Defying your best prognostications, and not-great Nielsen ratings, NBC has picked up the new Molly Shannon-Selma Blair comedy through the end of the season.

In announcing the nine-episode order today, NBC said Kath & Kim was "a show we love and believe in."

Clearly.

Last Thursday, the series ran third in its 8:30-9 p.m. time slot among the big four networks in viewers (5.5 million) and adults 18-49. The only show it beat was a rerun of Fox's Kitchen Nightmares.

Kath & Kim is not the only freshman series to benefit from a network's abiding patience. Between ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, only two new scripted shows (CBS' The Ex List and Fox's Do Not Disturb) have been yanked.